Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Sir Ronald Andrew Fellowes Wilson, (born 27 February 1941), often known as Sir Andrew Wilson and sometimes known informally as Sir Sandy Wilson, is a retired senior

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

officer.

RAF career

Educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

, Wilson joined the Royal Air Force in 1962. From 1976 to 1978 Wilson served as the Commanding Officer of No. II (AC) Squadron. During this time the Squadron took delivery of the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

which Wilson oversaw, flying practice reconnaissance missions. In 1980 Wilson was made Station Commander of

RAF Lossiemouth Royal Air Force Lossiemouth or more commonly RAF Lossiemouth is a military airfield located on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. Lossiemouth is one of the largest and busiest fast-jet stations in the ...

. In 1990 Wilson was appointed the Commander British Forces Middle East, making him the in-theatre commander for

Operation Granby Operation Granby, commonly abbreviated Op Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations wa ...

, the British contribution to the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. He was knighted in 1991 and in 1993 he was appointed

Air Member for Personnel The Air Member for Personnel (AMP) is the senior Royal Air Force officer who is responsible for personnel matters and is a member of the Air Force Board. The AMP is in charge of all aspects of recruiting, non-operational flying and ground tr ...

and the following year, on 1 April 1994, Wilson became the first Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of

Personnel and Training Command Personnel and Training Command (PTC) was one of two commands of the Royal Air Force (the other being Strike Command) that were merged to form Air Command on 1 April 2007. History Formation PTC was formed in 1994 bringing together the r ...

Retirement

He retired prematurely on 26 August 1995. He was accused of using £387,000 in government funds to refurbish Haymes Garth, the official residence for the Air Member for Personnel based at RAF Innsworth. He argued that funds had been approved for this purpose, but was not supported by the then Defence Minister, Sir

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

References

External links

II(AC) Sqn Association – Wg Cdr R A F Wilson
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Sandy Living people 1941 births People educated at Tonbridge School Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Royal Air Force air marshals of the Gulf War